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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28159905">coloring outside the lines</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/neradia3/pseuds/neradia3'>neradia3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode 1x06, Episode 1x07, Episode 1x11, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, Isobel is trying her best to find herself, Isobel's perspective, Mirrors, Planet 7, Second Person, episode 2x06, prom night 2008, teen Isobel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:13:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>947</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28159905</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/neradia3/pseuds/neradia3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>mirror, mirror, what's behind you?<br/>save me from the things I see<br/>I can keep it from the world<br/>why won't you let me hide from me?</p><p>or...</p><p>The four times Isobel looks in a mirror and sees someone else, and the one time she sees herself.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>coloring outside the lines</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Because the writers really liked making Isobel look in mirrors in season 1.<br/>Also, the song lyrics in the summary are from Mirror Mirror by Jeff Williams.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>1. May 2008</p><p>You stand in the bathroom, adjusting your hair in its complicated--but beautiful--bun. Ann said to leave it go, not to touch it so you don't ruin it, but the bobby pins are pulling at your thin strands, and it's something you're not used to. The mirror, this square piece of glass above the sink, shimmers under the dim lights and shows you yourself, your frustrated look as you groan and tug at your hair. They know how thin your hair is. A part of you wishes that your hair was like Michael's--nice and thick, layers upon layers. Maybe then, updos wouldn't be so painful on your scalp. </p><p>At some point, you decide to give up and concede to the pulling. Girls have to deal with pain to be beautiful, right? Beauty is pain, you hear your subconscious say in the back of your head. The different styles that don't work with your hair, the dress that's one size too small but you say fits just fine, the many blisters that reside on the back of your heels before you try on that new pair of mesh heels. You're not sure how to feel about it, this <em>beauty is pain </em>thing. Not that you mind it. You don't. You have to do this to feel pretty, be pretty. </p><p>2. June 2012</p><p>You go out. You find some guy, and honestly, you don't remember his name, but you fuck him anyway in the bar's bathroom, your ass on the sink's marble vanity. You wish the music was louder to drown out his grunts. You don't release. You can tell, he only cares about himself, as he zips up his pants. Gosh, you were so close. So fucking close. You watch him leave the bathroom, a glare in your eyes. </p><p>It's your twenty-first birthday. It's Max and Michael's, too. But Michael doesn't want to do the stereotypical twenty-first birthday thing that humans do. And Max? You have no fucking clue where he is. You wanted to get laid, and you did. It wasn't good, though. Probably the worst you've had. </p><p>You scoff and hop off the vanity to fix yourself, make yourself look more presentable before someone else can walk in. You face the mirror to adjust your hair, or try to. Your curls are unraveled, not as perfect as they were when you left the house earlier this evening. They might as well not be curls at all anymore. Just strands of hair you attempted to curl, but the iron wasn't hot enough to make them stay. You remember, maybe you should have used hair spray. That's what humans do, right? They use hair spray? </p><p>3. Fall 2018</p><p>
  <em>You'll be marked as a danger to yourself and others. </em>
</p><p>Everyone you know, everyone who knows you're... different knows you're a killer. This beast just waiting deep inside you, waiting for the right time to come out and play. You don't know this beast, whatever it is. It scares you, though, because what you do know is that this beast is a part of you. Is you. As you look at yourself in the mirror, in the room that's going to be yours for the next few days, maybe a week, your face is fading. All of your features shift and twist into something you can't bare to see, so you turn away. </p><p>This is who you are now. </p><p><em>And I'll be locked in, right? </em> you ask, moving towards the window, far from that bewitched mirror.</p><p>4. Winter 2018</p><p>When you look at your hands, all that you see is... that moment from ten years ago, that moment that haunts you into oblivion. You hold on to this dress, colors winding in some pattern, reaching out from the mirror and into your hands, and you can't even focus on the dress itself because your hands... your hands have someone else's blood on them. Someone you--</p><p>Noah kisses your shoulder, and you jump back with a gasp. Fuck. <em>Woah, easy killer. </em></p><p>Someone you loved. </p><p>5. Fall 2019</p><p>You've never been to Planet 7. It's not your type of bar, nothing like the Wild Pony or Saturn's Rings. But you decide to change things up a bit, try something new. Anything so men aren't breathing down your neck the whole time, touching you unnecessarily as they walk passed you, buying you drinks. A place that plays decent music.</p><p>Maybe you'll meet someone there, at Planet 7. Dance with them all night, bring them home, and you know where that typically goes. You need a night to yourself, to have fun, especially after the craziness that was bringing Max back from the dead. You desperately need a break. And going to Planet 7 tonight is your break. </p><p>You hold different outfits up in front of you at the mirror in your bedroom. On your bed is a pile of clothes you picked out, tried on, but threw aside, discarding them. They don't feel like <em>you</em> anymore, the real <em>you</em>. The <em>you </em>that's been hiding away for so long, the <em>you</em> that was covered by lies and games of pretend. You're growing, blossoming. You smile. And your reflection in the mirror smiles back. </p><p>You choose a black dress that fits you well, shows off your shoulders. You leave the mirror, once you slip on the dress, to search through your various jewelry and settle on a gold pair of hoops along with a gold chain necklace to match, maybe a few rings. You go back to your reflection, put on the hoops, rings, and necklace. You look at yourself, and you can't tear your eyes away. Darling, you're beautiful. </p>
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